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After reading and soaking in everything for months now I finally have decided to make a post. I have wanted a Saiga 12 now for a few years and for whatever reason never pulled the trigger on one. Well back in late February I purchased one from Atlantic (only place at the time that had one in stock for under a grand). It was converted by CAI. Their conversion was the FCG moved forward, pistol grip, and the puck changed out to a Tapco. Also came with a Phantom Muzzel brake and the sporter stock. Anyhow I really like the firearm. I just wish I would have bought one years ago when hey were under $500 but live and learn. I did remove the sporter stock and put on a CSS Raptor but other than that it is pretty much how I was when I bought it although I have plans :-)

 

Right out of the box I could shoot high brass/buck/slugs/3 inchers on the #1 gas setting with 100% reliability. Lighter loads were a bit different. I could shoot the $8-10 a box low brass loads on #2 without any problems but as it is posted on here by everyone, I wanted to shoot the cheap Winchester/Federal that can be gotten at Wally World/Dicks Sporting Goods/Dunham's for $26 for a hundred rounds. So all I could think of was putting more high powered loads through it and after about another 50 or so I could shoot the Winchester Universal and Federal bulk with maybe 1-3 FTE per 10 round mag. I did also get a 100 round bulk pack of Winchester Super Sport that is only 1oz shot, 2.75 DRAM, and runs at 1145FPS. This was 100% FTE.....not even enough power to get the spent shell to get stuck in the action........it just went right back in the chamber. I was not upset with the results of the Super Sport ammo......I sorta expected it but figured why not try it?

 

However the results of Win Universal and Federal Bulk (both 1 1/8th oz shot and 3 DRAM) having FTE at all is not acceptable to me so I decided it was time to really take a look at JeffD's post titled "Modification to repair FTE issues on Saigas with blocked gas ports".

 

My S12 is a 4-porter and the port closest to the muzzle was partially hidden. I could feel it with a paper clip but could not get a paper clip in it. So this morning I started removing the gas block. Taking the pins out was a real SOB as some have said but eventually I got them. Having a second pair of hands helped me greatly with all of these tasks. Before I filed the gas block hole into a D-Shape (did it later) I looked at the size of each of the 4 gas ports. They were all drilled to 1/16th or .0625 . After reading all of the posts here I knew that was too small so I drilled all 4 out to what a lot of people reported on here that they drilled their 4-porters out to.....5/64 or .078125 .

 

Cleaned everything up and put it together and loaded up a 2x10 round mag with Winchester Universal, 2x10 round mag with Federal Bulk, and a 5 round mag with that Win Super Sport. On the #2 gas setting I had zero FTE on either of the 10 round mags and although I still did not expect much from the Super Sport ammo, I had 2 out of 5 FTE which I was actually pleased about since previously it was 100% FTE.

One thing I keep saying to myself is this gun is not even broke in yet and I am very pleased with how it is shooting the low brass now. When time permits I will be looking to polish some of the popular contact areas.

I would like to thank all of you for your posts on here. I never would have bought a S12 if there was not a resource like this site to provide pretty much anything you need to know about the firearm.

 

-BP

Edited by burntpowder
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And welcome to the forum. Good reading isn't it! You should know that some will probably chastise you for the D-mod on the gas block. Pay no attention because, well, it's too late now...... and it works. :)

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Thanks and yes this place is good reading! I check the site before I go to work in the morning and then a few times in the evening once I get home (site is blocked at work....grrrr). Anyhow I did not really see any other option other than doing the D-Mod. Looking at the ports from the muzzle end, the one at 9-o-clock was about 1/4th covered by the block (still could get a paper-clip in it though) but the one at 6-o-clock was 3/4th covered by the block and I could not get a paper-clip in it. I could not think of any other way to expose them than to make the gas block hole bigger. I did follow JeffD's post however I did not have to (and didn't) remove metal past the lip where the plug bottoms out. That lip still intact.

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Welcome aboard. Congrats on getting your S-12 running like you want it. Makes the gun even more endearing knowing you had something to do with getting her running on low brass doesn't it? I wouldn't necessarily term it a "nightmare", more like an addiction that can become a nightmare when you start adding up receipts. :)

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I think I used a 11/32 drill instead of the d mod.. I believthats what it was.

You used a 11/32 drill? What size bit did you use?

 

Pulled off the big "M" thing today.

Edited by Jet
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I think I used a 11/32 drill instead of the d mod.. I believthats what it was.

You used a 11/32 drill? What size bit did you use?

 

Pulled off the big "M" thing today.

 

What size was the drill that you gave me for the gas block again? I have it in my case and dont feel like pulling it out...

 

Im happy , bet it was a blast for SURE! :) Congrats sir!

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Welcome! Nice first post, its good to see that u actually did your homework and did not have to ask the "same ol questions" that have already been answered a million plus times.... Lets see some pics!

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Welcome! Nice first post, its good to see that u actually did your homework and did not have to ask the "same ol questions" that have already been answered a million plus times.... Lets see some pics!

 

Pictures or it didn't happen............Johnboy.gif

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Haha I will try and get some pics up later today or tomorrow.

 

And one thing I did forget to mention in the original post that travistp's reminded me of was I did use a 5/16th drill bit to first enlarge the gas port hole before doing any filing. I went through the bottom hole in the gas block (that is at the bottom of the barrel when assembled) since this gave me a straight line to the gas port hole in the block. That alone solved the 9-o-clock port hole being partially cover which I mentioned above and gave me a uniform hole to start with and then I began filing forward for that covered 6-o-clock port.

 

-BP

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Well here are some pictures so it did happen!!! grimace.gif

First off, sorry the images are not better quality. I spend my money on guns and ammo and not digital cameras victory.gif

 

Most are just random picks but two show what the gas block/gas ports look like now. I put a paper clip in the 4th port to show it is now not blocked by the gas block. And now that I see these close up images I can do a little more cleanup on that block at a later time. I like symmetry and that is not my best work BUT the gun functions and who can really see that?.............but me knowing it is like that will eat at me until I clean it up.

 

Next up will be polishing and then chopping the tang off so I can go with an internal block.........that is really more for looks because the LOP with the CSS Raptor (9 inches), a 1-inch ACE recoil pad, and the 1.75 inches the block add does not bother me and I am comfortable shooting it.

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Edited by burntpowder
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